This invention relates, in general, to interconnect structures, and more particularly, to bonding pad structures and a method of making bonding pad structures.
An important aspect in the design and manufacture of semiconductor devices is transmitting electrical signals to and from the semiconductor devices. In particular, methods and means of testing semiconductor devices to ensure compliance with design and customer specifications has become a critical issue. In addition, tests have been designed for monitoring semiconductor device and manufacturing processes, and for evaluating the physical characteristics and limitations of semiconductor substrate materials. For example, thermal test chips have been used to monitor the temperature at various locations on semiconductor die to determine thermal limitations of the semiconductor material.
A common approach to testing a semiconductor device fabricated in a semiconductor die is to bond it to a test card designed to couple an electrical signal source to a semiconductor device. Typically, bonding pads are formed at discrete locations on the test card and bumps are subsequently formed on these bonding pads. The test card bonding pads, and hence the bumps, are positioned to mate with bonding pads on the semiconductor die. The test card and the semiconductor die are bonded together and the semiconductor device is then tested. A drawback to this technique is that changes in the locations of semiconductor device bonding pads requires fabricating new test cards having bonding pads positioned to mate with those of the semiconductor device.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to have a bonding pad structure on a test card or a semiconductor substrate having a semiconductor device and a method of making the bonding pad structure, wherein the bonding pad structure has a plurality of configurations.